Consumers Abandon Brands that Don’t Measure Up

Shoddy customer service, redundant questions, disconnected processes and long waits are causing customers to leave brands in droves, according to a new survey commissioned by Redwood Software*, the global provider of Enterprise Process AutomationTM. The results emphasize that it’s the “little-big problems” that customer-facing companies should be concerned about—the things that may seem inconsequential up front, but build up over time to dramatically change the relationship a customer has with a once-favorite brand.

U.S. Consumers expect excellent, streamlined, and efficient end-to-end service wherever they go. If they don’t get it, they’re gone. According to the results, nearly half of potential buyers terminate online purchases because they take too long (49.35%) or are too complicated (48.35%). More than 75% of shoppers leave brick-and-mortar stores—and 65.3% leave online marketplaces—because they couldn’t find what they wanted. Ultimately, 51% of the US consumers surveyed have ended contracts or changed suppliers because of continued service failings.

Customer service also came under fire in the survey. More than 61% of respondents reported dissatisfaction at having to repeat personal information to an operator after providing that information through an automated telephone system, and 58.85% were similarly annoyed when repeating information to multiple people or departments across transfers. Consumer expectations are high, but so is the potential loss for big brands, with these annoyances undoubtedly translating into lost revenue.

“It’s often the little problems that cause the biggest issues,” said Tijl Vuyk, CEO of Redwood Software. “In a time where customer loyalty is dead, brand reputation is critical and speedy service is imperative. Process automation helps businesses achieve efficiency and cost savings, and essentially deliver customer satisfaction. Businesses simply can’t afford to keep losing customers this way.”

* In March 2013, 2,000 US consumers were surveyed by OnePoll about their real-life and virtual interactions with retailers, service providers, and financial organizations.

About Redwood Software

Redwood is Enterprise Process Automation. Our approach to automation is driven by business requirements to improve process efficiency, agility, compliance and control. For 20 years we’ve automated what matters most to our customers. Through our growing partner ecosystem and Automated Process Packages (APPs), we deliver Process-as-a-Service solutions with the first enterprise-class cloud automation platform, RunMyJobs (www.runmyjobs.com).

Our unparalleled ability to connect applications from any vendor or source makes us the automation partner of choice for the some of the best known names in IT. Redwood is the only strategic automation partner with SAP® AG. Our automation suite is also offered by HP to their global customer base.

For more information on Redwood products and solutions, please visit www.redwood.com